Authorship

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Authorship

• Idea of author of a film as important in
  understanding way films are made and consumed.

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• Author suggests a single creative source, where
  the meaning of the text can be found.
• eg painting, literature
• In film director

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Paul Watson

• Critical approaches to Hollywood cinema
• In Nelmes, J. (2003) An Introduction to Film
  Studies
• 3 paradoxes of cinematic authorship

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Paradoxes

• Paradox 1
• Individuality in a collective practice
• Films dont have a single creative source.
• Scriptwriters, Actors, Set Designers,
  Camerapersons, Editors, etc

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Paradoxes

• Paradox 2 Theory
• Theories of how texts communicate has challenged
  the idea that meaning is determined by authors
  
• semiotics, structuralism, psychoanalysis
• all sideline or ignore the term author.

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Paradoxes

• But
• idea of director-as-author is widely accepted
  by critics, film publishers, the public, etc.

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Paradoxes

• Paradox 3 The cultural paradox
• Now film theory has escaped the idea that the
  author is where the answer to the meaning of the
  film text is to be found

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Paradoxes

• BUT
• the concept reappears as key to understanding
  the relationship between the film industry, the
  film and its audience.

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Auteur Theory

• 1950s film is seen as mass produced culture, not
  an art form.
• French theorists try to establish
• Films have an auteur, so can be art,
• So we can take film seriously.

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Auteur Theory

• Auteur Theory argues
• The director has a personal stylistic signature
  which can be found in the films.
• So we should study film style
• So Hollywood cinema can be taken seriously and
  critical analyses made.

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Auteur Theory

• SO
• Cinema now an art form
• Can tell good from bad
• genuine auteurs from metteurs-en-scene
• (Technically competent but no artistic signature)
• Now have a method for studying film as art.

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Auteur Theory

• Studying Film
• Themes of the auteur
• Auteur style
• Mise-en-scene
• Organisation of elements within the frame
• Terrain of the director
• Mise-en-scene can breathe real content into a
  seemingly trivial subject

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Auteur Theory

• Problems
• Film making a collaborative process
• Film criticism becomes subjective, as with
  literary or art criticism of the time.
• The intentional fallacy idea that meaning is
  found in the intentions of the director and that
  the viewer will receive the same meanings.

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Auteur Theory

• However
• auteurs have an increasing visibility in the film
  business
• the commerce of auteurism (Corrigan)

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Corrigan

• The auteur is now a star
• In auteur theory, the auteur was found by
  analysing their films and seeing an artistic
  vision
• Now the auteur is found outside the films in
  interviews, talk shows, reviews, trailers, web
  sites, award ceremonies, commenting on
  directors cut dvds, etc.

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Corrigan

• We dont find the artist in the film anymore, but
  before and after and around the film.

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Corrigan

• Authorship functions as a precept of aesthetic
  expectation
• We already know the meanings before we view the
  film.

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Authorship

• Conclusions
• Auteurism is not a unified and coherent theory
  about film any more.
• But concept of author seems necessary to
  understanding of cinema as an art form, and as a
  business, and a cultural phenomenon.

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Authorship

• We want to make critically interesting and useful
  judgements about the relative artistic merit of a
  film and its makers.

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Authorship

• We should lose the romantic art notion of the
  single artist-director, and examine the
  creativity of all contributors to the film.
• To discuss cinema as art we want to use concepts
• Art
• Aesthetics

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Authorship

• Artist
• Craft
• Practice
• Expression
• Technique
• Creativity
• Style
• Experience

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Authorship

• Want to discuss the creative practices involved
  in film making
• Want to discuss contemporary media culture, which
  uses the auteur as a commodity, to sell a film
  and explain how they want it read.

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Authorship

• Pragmatic approach to authorship
• A tool for helping us look for art in cinema.

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Studying Authorship

• How could we study authorship?
• Choose a director and identify a signature or
  artistic vision.
• Discuss who else has contributed to the film.

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Studying Authorship

• Discuss extra-textual appearances of the
  author
• Eg
• Interviews, previews, directors cut commentary,
  etc.

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Studying Authorship

• Discuss corporate authors
• Eg
• Production companies.
• eg Disney, Industrial Light and Sound, PIXAR.

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Jim Jarmusch

• Paul Watson
• Critical approaches to Hollywood cinema
  authorship, genre and stars
• In
• J Nelmes (ed)
• An introduction to film studies
• 2003

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Jim Jarmusch

• Authorship can be useful
• Enrich our understanding of films
• Enrich our experience of films

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Jim Jarmusch

• In some cases films can meaningfully be
  considered authored by their director.
• Even if in many mainstream films this may be
  unhelpful.

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Jim Jarmusch

• Can say
• Director is just one of many contributors
• And also
• Authorship can sometimes be meaningfully
  attributed.

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Jim Jarmusch

• Jim Jarmusch
• Persuasive case for idea of director-as-author.
• Three levels
• Working Practice
• Thematic Concerns
• Stylistic Concerns

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Jim Jarmusch

• 1 Working Practice
• Writes and directs all his films
• Works closely with cinematographer and editor
• Selects casts and locations
• Raises the money
• Owns negatives to his films

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Jim Jarmusch

• Films character centred
• Based on a character idea, which is improvised
  and developed
• Collaboration as part of creative process

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Jim Jarmusch

• Thematic Concerns
• Authorship suggests a coherent world view
• Unified personal vision across films

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Jim Jarmusch

• Main Themes
• Cultural disorientations
• Immigrant-eye-view
• Language and communication

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Jim Jarmusch

• Secondary Themes
• Poetry of the ordinary
• Chance encounters
• urbanism

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Jim Jarmusch

• Stylistic Concerns
• Character driven narrative
• Episodic structure
• Tracking shots